In an attempt to restrain the natural human tendency and prevent people from abusing theirpower, modern democracies have formulated several basic principles to promote equality andreduce social injustice — including the separation of powers, majority rule (not at the expenseof minority rights), freedom of the press, and so on. Today, it seems that these core values are being tested.

The exhibition “Citizens” was conceived in response to social inclinations currently challengingcivil society in Israel and in other democracies in the free world. In view of the instability feltthroughout the world, questions arise regarding the strength of present-day democracy and itsability to face cultural transformations and political upheavals. A stormy change of government in the USA, the rise of extremist regimes in the Middle East, the migration of millions who fleeviolence and destruction in their homelands — all these only reinforce the fear, uncertainty, andthreat, further complicating the already complex democratic way of life.

The exhibition spans works by artists from Israel, USA, Spain, Italy, Canada, and Poland.These are read in the light of theories which already warned against the slippery slope fromliberalism to totalitarianism in the 1950s. The participating artists ask questions about the innatetension between citizen’s rights and government authorities, shedding light on their points ofcollision. Through their works, the show explores the conflict between the state’s duty to protect itself and its citizens, and its counter duty to safeguard basic human rights, such as the freedomof association, the right to privacy, and the freedom of expression.

The exhibition features current reflections — at times critical, at others humorous — onnotions such as totalitarian democracy, which embody the “paradox of freedom,” or the assumptionthat the realization of freedom entails the employment of coercive means and violence. Some ofthe featured works are centered on the Panopticon — the surveillance apparatus conceived by 18th century philosopher, Jeremy Bentham — and on Foucault’s interpretation of that concept,as a model for the anonymity of power in modern society and as an image of the individual’sinternalization of the disciplining and signifying gaze.